Til Death Do Usss Part
by L.G. Alderson
Summary: In the days before Necropolis, rookie judge Kraken has an unsettling feeling in the build up to his Assessment Day. Can he live up to the lofty standards set by Dredd? Or will he be consumed by his own psyche which will lead to something more catastrophic? Read on and find out what was going through the mind of one of the most pivotal characters of the Judge Dredd universe.


**Mega-City One, 2112** (Pre-'Necropolis')

Rookie Judge Kraken was anxious. It wasn't professional, but he knew tomorrow was a big day. Assessment Day, with none other than Judge Dredd himself. Years of training culminating in one day that could make or break his future. It might seem unfair to an outsider, but then life was unfair and this is exactly what their training prepared them for. The only thing that made sense was the law. Without it, without the sense of morality and reason to their executions, they were nothing more than monsters. He sat down with his fellow rookie Judges in the cafeteria of the Academy, on a rare break. "So Kraken, you ready for Assessment tomorrow? I heard you're with Dredd."

"Drokk Keegan! Why'd you have to go and bring that up?" another rookie asked rhetorically. It was fair to say Kraken was thinking of nothing else. "Yeah, I'm ready" Kraken grunted shortly, disguising his inner thoughts. "I heard that Dredd is the only guy who can take down the Dark Judges. Is he even human?" Keegan pressed on regardless, enjoying the fact that the pressure wasn't on him. "Can it Keegan! Everyone knows he couldn't do it without Anderson" another rookie waded in. They'd all heard the stories. It's what cadets grew up on in the walls of the Academy. How not only do the Judges have to deal with the perps of the Meg, not only do they have to occasionally deal with muties from the Cursed Earth, but now supernatural harbingers of death are amongst the worst the world could throw at a newly graduated Street Judge. How do you stop something that is already dead? It was a question that often troubled Kraken. Whatever the answer, it was always Dredd who seems to reach it fastest…always Dredd… but why always Dredd? It was another question in Kraken's mind, which was swimming with all kinds of thoughts on the eve of Assessment.

As Kraken was quietly and efficiently dispatching his lunch, his thoughts began to trail off even further. Dredd and Death. They seemed drawn to each other, like some kind of cosmic gravitational pull. Some weird combination of science and fate. Two sides of the same twisted coin - just like the things they represent - life and death. But which was which? Now Kraken was delving deep into a dimension of thought in his own mind. A place he was inherently aware of, but yet did not know existed. All he could think for a moment was a sound. It sounded like 'Jud'. Jud...Judge perhaps? He couldn't be sure. Why would a Judge be significant in Kraken's life? He was surrounded by them at any given minute in the day and was of course, training to get his full eagle. The lack of answers forced him deeper into his own psyche. Had nobody else realised that Dredd and Death were almost the same, more so than first seems? How ironic Kraken thought, that Dredd is always at the centre of death and violence in the name of the law, struggling against a rising genocide to upkeep the notion of life. But then on the reverse of this twisted di, Judge Death is constantly in pursuit of life to extinguish in the name of death! It was a paradox in Kraken's head. An unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Neither bowing down nor giving in, each as relentless in their pursuit of their own corrupted vision of justice. It's almost as if they _need_ each other to exist, to balance things.

Kraken was snapped out of his stupor by Keegan's blatant attempt at mockery "Don't screw it up Kraken!" he snapped with a wry smile. It was part of life in the Academy of Law, the cadets had to be hardened to life in the city and competition between each other was natural. Kraken didn't feel the need to dignify that with a response. Keegan was by nature, an idiot. Kraken could cut him down effortlessly, but the Department needed all the Judges it could get. He wouldn't last that long on the streets anyway, that's presuming he managed to pass his own Assessment which was soon approaching.

"I heard Death was a human Judge once" claimed another rookie changing the subject back to the Dark 'Judges'. Keegan made an audibly dismissive sound. It's true, Kraken had heard it too. It requires a lot of imagination to think that Death had begun life on the side of the law, let alone humanity. "You know the Boing! they keep down in the armoury? That's one of the only things that can stop a Dark Judge. That's why they stockpile it down there". There was a story of a cadet that Kraken could've brought up about breaking into the armoury and spraying Boing! on other cadets in their sleep and getting 20 years on Titan for it, but this was for another time. "So how did they become undead if they were once human?" Keegan's brashness started to recede, a hint of fear in his voice now emerging as the conversation prolonged. "That's the thing, no-one knows for sure. But it's obvious they're not from this world." That was a fair assumption Kraken agreed silently. One thing the cadets learn in the Department is that in the absence of facts, people draw their own conclusions and take the law into their own hands. This was dangerous for all concerned, for society itself. The Judges were in place to establish the facts and deal accordingly. No time for courts or a prolonged justice system, instant sentencing was necessary.

"Is it true that Dredd once punched Judge Fear in the face?" This was a new one to Kraken. Inwardly he smiled for the briefest of moments. The story no doubt served to cement Dredd's iconic status in the city, a propaganda snippet released by the Department of Justice to keep fear far from the hearts of men. If it was true, it was almost a perfect illustration of Dredd's uncompromising nature. He could almost imagine Dredd coming out with a snappy one-liner whilst he was in motion, a rare glimpse at the Judge's humanity which was the only thing that separated him from his immortal nemesis. Kraken's thoughts then turned to his mentor. Judge Odell had been proud of Kraken's progress in the Academy, almost overly so. He believed in him and sometimes it felt like he was the only one. Kraken didn't want to let him down, tomorrow or otherwise. But the rookie Judge had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't shake, tomorrow was going to be a _big_ day, not just for him but in general. The inevitability of death was all around the rookies. They knew that strife and hatred lay around every corner and that life as a Judge is a sentence in itself. But the talk of Dredd and Death ignited something _else_ in Kraken. A feeling of helplessness to what was about to happen.

The rookie Judges continued with their duties for the remainder of the day and hung up their uniforms for the night. Some of the others got together to discuss more of the Dredd v Death tales that they've heard from various sources around the Academy, but Kraken chose to stay in his dorm that night to focus on the day ahead. The natural light had all but faded and the rookie felt his eyes getting heavier, getting harder to fight the impending natural darkness.

Visions of grotesque women with of spiders and skulls flashed before Kraken, in a state of unconsciousness. He could somehow _smell_ the rotting flesh sting his nostrils. But there was nowhere to run, only darkness. It was coming for him, he knew it. But how you could you repel what you could not comprehend, fight something which cannot be vanquished? A noise from beyond, footsteps echoing in the distance almost brought Kraken back. But it was too far now, he had been dragged into the deepest darkest depths of despair and this was the feeling of helplessness that had haunted him earlier that day. He began to recall repressed memories, the heat of the Radback. He could feel the sweat beading down his cheek once again.

The concept of time soon returned and darkness soon gave way to blinding light in the form of the morning sunrise. His head began to regain physical form and he squinted to reduce the beams into his pupils. The only evidence of Kraken's subconscious journey into the unknown from the night previous was the patch of sweat on his sheets. He could still just about remember glimpses of spiders and flesh. The day had arrived. He woke up and prepared for the coming events like he always did, pulled on his uniform in the order he always pulled it on. He steadied himself for a day like any other, but anticipated something different entirely. For today was the beginning of the end…of Kraken, of Dredd and of life itself.


End file.
